The “Patriot Act on Steroids”

The Tik Tok ban is so much worse than you think Alecia Scott, Staff Writer

Reilly

, Staff Writer

Since Trump’s Presidency, the government has been trying to ban or restrict access to TikTok. In 2020 he planned on banning the app via executive action. Soon, however, he was defeated by Joe Biden during the elections. Biden revoked this executive order but put up a road map to how the government should deal with threats from an app involving foreign adversaries. In December, TikTok was completely banned from being used on government-owned devices. This was to avoid the threat of government secrets possibly being hacked.

Let’s be honest; 70-90% of people in congress barely know how to use their phones without their grandchildren helping them. It is hard to believe that they know for a fact that an app like this can manipulate the minds of its users to grow against America. Every TikTok user knows that only Americans can make fun of America. If it is any other country, we become more patriotic than a redneck on the fourth of July. It is a great quality that we Americans have; only we can make fun of each other. So, in this article, I will describe what the bill represents and why it is inherently wrong.

TikTok is never actually mentioned in the bill. It is much more widespread than that. Many journalists and politicians are calling it “the Patriot Act on steroids.” For those who do not know what the Patriot Act is, it was put in place after the 9/11 attacks. They allowed the government to look into any possible threat to national security. They were allowed to access their phones, their computers, and any means necessary to possibly catch domestic and foreign terrorists. It made many of the people of America feel safe after such a tragic time; however, nowadays, it is rarely used, as far as we are aware. This new bill that is being proposed is uncalled for. Nothing has happened to America as tragic as 9/11 to cause this kind of bill to pass into law. This bill would allow the government to ban access to any type of technology that could possibly “pose a threat to national security.” That is such a vague term. They could ban TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. This would give so much power to the government. The bill also says that the president will elect people to the cabinet, which means Americans don’t even get to decide who is “protecting our rights.” They are also allowed to have closed-door meetings. This means that they are not documented until the technology has been banned. That means one day, we could have access to Instagram, and then, the next day the app will cease to exist in this country.

VPNs are also included in this bill. VPN stands for virtual private network. VPNs hide the contents of your web traffic from some observers and can make it harder for you to be tracked online. You can often change your location to access other kinds of media that may be blocked or included in your version of the technology in your country. I’m sure we have all seen some kind of youtuber sponsored by Surfshark or Nord Lock or any other VPN. They access their Netflix and one movie is available in Canada that isn’t included here. It changes your location so you are safer on the internet. This bill essentially bans these. With a VPN, you would be allowed to access everything that has been banned-which I’m sure government officials would hate.

Now let’s get to the knitty-gritty of the app itself. They say the locations would allow for possible catastrophe because foreign adversaries would be able to see where large populations of people are. This is illogical because in the setting of the app, and on your own phone, you can turn off your location in the app.

Next, facial recognition could allow foreign adversaries to store the faces of important people and spread propaganda. You can also turn off this setting. The founders of TikTok themselves have also stated that the coding in the software is not designed to capture the face but to make filters fit the face of the user as best as possible.

They are also scared that propaganda could be spread via the app. That is totally possible, but at the end of the day, this is America. Our first Amendment allows us to spread and listen to these words and determine if it is rational or not. It is not for our government to decide whether or not we are allowed to.

These politicians are scared that TikTok is spreading a different ideology than what the government wants to spread. They are scared that people may see the flaw in their own government and fight against it. The best part is that we are going to do this regardless. There is a phrase known as “bread and circuses.” This phrase suggests that when people are not getting entertainment and are not getting food, the people will look deeper into their own country. They will discover their flaws, and fight to change them. When people are taken away from something, they will often fight to get it back, or end the thing that took it away from them. These politicians need to get it together because TikTok isn’t the thing that is taking down their government; they are doing it all by themselves.